MAY RUNS HOT AND COLD

For the last few days, Chicagoans have gleefully shouted "Sweep!" Someone please tell the Cubs they were talking about the local basketball team.

Over the weekend the Cubs dropped three games to the Houston Astros, whom they supposedly are chasing in the National League Central. Sweep!

And on Wednesday, after losing a 2-0 decision to the Atlanta Braves in Wrigley Field, they had blown both games of their rain-shortened series to the defending world champs. Sweep!

They have lost six in a row and can match their 1996 standard for futility by dropping Friday night's game at Florida. Unfortunately, their exhibition against the Southern League All-Stars Thursday in Orlando doesn't count against the streak--not that a game against a bunch of bush-leaguers is a lock for these Cubs.

The Cubs' press notes Wednesday had an entry titled "Dissecting a Slump," with relevant numbers on the skid (a .205 team batting average and 7.00 earned-run average). But it might as well have said "Dissecting the Corpse."

Wednesday's dose of frustration came from the hottest pitcher in baseball, John Smoltz, who outdueled Steve Trachsel to pick up his 11th straight victory.

"That was two real good pitching performances there," Cubs manager Jim Riggleman said. "It's better for baseball when it's 2-1, 3-1, rather than 11-9 and all that stuff."

It doesn't seem to matter what the score is for the Cubs lately: They wind up on the wrong end.

With the campaign almost one-third over, the Cubs are parked 10 games below .500 (21-31), their lowest point since the 1994 players' strike left them 15 under.

The Cubs went on strike again Wednesday, fanning 13 times against Smoltz, who leads the majors in that category.

It could be worse, though they have been saying that on the North Side since 1945. Were the Cubs in the NL East, they would be 13 games behind Atlanta.

Instead, they are in the slag heap known as the NL Central, which is on its way to producing baseball's first real sub-.500 division champion. The Cubs were one out away from first place as recently as last Friday night, but now they have slipped five games back of Houston.

The optimist will point out the Cubs have 110 games left to straighten themselves out. The first place to start is at the plate, where the Cubs are hitting .245 as a team.

Leave it to the Cubs to be outhit by the opposing pitcher. Smoltz's fifth-inning single gave him a two-run cushion, which on this day seemed like two touchdowns.

Smoltz (11-1) has won every start since losing his first. His ERA stands at 2.24, second in the league. His 11 victories are the best in the majors.

Smoltz wasn't sure what to expect after missing his scheduled start in Tuesday's rainout. When Smoltz stuck his head out of the dugout Wednesday morning he cringed at the sight of the pennants blowing plateward by a wind out of the north.

"When you walk out there and see those flags blowing in, you tend to go out and throw instead of pitching," Smoltz said. "Today, I concentrated on pitching. That was the best command, control, confidence and ability to throw the strike when I had to that I've had all year."

Trachsel (3-4, 2.33 ERA) might have said the same thing. He allowed only five hits in seven innings and said his stuff was "pretty comparable" to what he flashed in his one-hitter May 13. But he needed help from his hitters.

Smoltz "is one of about 10 guys in a row who have stuck it to us," Grace said. "He ain't 11-1 by accident. But I'm tired of praising the opposing pitcher every day."